Sony Earnings: CEO Hirai Faces Bigger Test This Year

TOKYO—By returning Sony Corp. to the black for the fiscal year that recently ended, Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai cleared one obstacle in his pledge to turn around the electronics maker. But what the company does this year is more likely to determine whether Sony is firmly on the road to recovery.

Sony's expected profit—its first in five years—in reality would be more of an accounting victory than an operational one. The Japanese company gained from the sale of office buildings and investments, while capitalizing on a weak...